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Enable/Disable a Device from the Command Line

Latest update on by Olivia Long .
This article lets users enable/disable a tag from the command line in a few easy steps. The document shows how to carry out this activity on Windows XP by installing DevCon. The link to download this is provided in the article. This software displays all devices and thus the user can enable or disable a device according to his requirement. The commands for doing this are included in the article.



This allows you enable/disable your internet connection (or network card) on the command line.

Install DevCon

  • 1. To download, go to the Microsoft website: Link
  • 2. Once downloaded, unpack the file
  • 3. Copy \i386\devcon.exe to c:\windows\system32
  • 4. Locate the device that you want. In the command prompt type: 
    devcon find *

Display all the devices in the system

  • In the command prompt, type 
    devcon find *> list.txt
    • To get the list in a file
  • For example, my network card Accton appears as: 
    • PCI\VEN_1113&DEV_1211&SUBSYS_12111113&REV_10\3&13C0B0C5&0&48: Accton EN1207D Series PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter #2


Choose a piece of the string that identifies the device, and verify it is unique: 

c:\>devcon find *VEN_1113     
PCI\VEN_1113&DEV_1211&SUBSYS_12111113&REV_10\3&13C0B0C5&0&48: Accton EN1207D Ser     
ies PCI Fast Ethernet Adapter #2     
1 matching device(s) found.


Make sure that "VEN_1113" means a single network card.

Enable/disable the device

devcon disable *VEN_1113      
devcon enable *VEN_1113


This allows me to enable/disable my network card (and therefore my internet connection) from the command line.

Other devices

  • The floppy disk drive is: 
    • ACPI\PNP0700\3&13C0B0C5&0 : standard disk controller
  • To disable/enable it at will: 
    • devcon disable * PNP0700
    • This eliminates the floppy drive system!
  • To prevent your computer from beeping: 
    • ROOT\LEGACY_BEEP\0000 : Beep

Image: © snig - Shutterstock.com
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